Assistant Professor Leong Wei Lin

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NTU EEE’s brand new recruit and true-blue alumni, Assistant Professor Leong Wei Lin shares what it’s like to arrive at truly being part of the NTU EEE family. Prof Leong talks about what attracted her to engineering subjects and then to foray into the research realm: “Personally, I am constantly interested in the science and technology topics featured in journals and engineering magazines. The constant innovation in these fields inspires me to look at how big ideas and small actions can produce revolutionary breakthroughs. They inspired me to work towards going into research that would help create such new technologies.”

The kinds of research Prof Leong is freshly involved in as a NTU EEE faculty member:“My research is focused on developing electronic materials (organic and hybrid materials) for energy and electronic applications such as solar cells, field-effect transistors and memory devices. I am currently interested in using novel materials that would form the basis of biodegradable, biocompatible or transient electronics and which completely disappears in a controlled fashion after fulfilling its duty. This is potentially useful for products in areas like: actively powered edible and bioresorbable electronic devices, sensors for food monitoring and non-invasive diagnostic systems to improve medical patient care, and also paves the way for ubiquitous electronics.”

A few things that our newly appointed assistant professor Prof Leong is looking forward to in NTU EEE:“I graduated with both my PhD and Bachelor of Engineering degrees from NTU. The close familiarity of NTU is one of the reasons why I finally chose NTU for my academic career path. I keenly hope I can “contribute back” to NTU through my scientific contributions and the students I mentor.

My career vision is to be able to lead a team and use an integrated approach combining novel electronic materials and electrical device engineering for energy and electronic applications. In particular, I am strongly for the view that the race against irreversible global climate change and electronic pollution can be eased substantially with the invention of green energy harvesting and the development of biodegradable electronics.

I am also looking forward to inspire students and lead them to find their passion. For instance, many students are confused about their career path or even what specialisation of subjects they should take on in their final year of study. I believe it is necessary to interact more with the students to understand their mentality and motivations when taking up the courses or projects. It is also important to step into their shoes to try and see the different aspects of the courses that they will resonate with. Encouraging the students to try doing projects in different fields is also another way to help them.”

Prof Leong’s favourite place in NTU:“I live close to NTU campus and I can actually see the Yunnan Garden, Chinese Heritage Centre and the Hive from my house! I enjoy the twenty minute walk each way from my home to NTU EEE every day. The scenic walk through these iconic and delightful landmarks also makes me appreciate the wonderful greenery we have on campus."

Interests and hobbies in her free time:“Currently, I have a baby girl who is 8 months old. Therefore, outside of my research and teaching, all my free time is spent on her. I do not wish to miss all the magical moments of my growing child! Along the way, I have learnt to be very focused in what I do so that time is best utilised in both work and family. Eventually, I hope to get back to my hobbies of reading and travelling.”

Some helpful advice that Prof Leong has to impart to students:“Develop a genuine interest in your courses rather than just looking at them from an examination point of view! As an educator, I personally believe it is important that my students are not just memorising the lecture notes to score in examinations but are actually able to apply or integrate the “whys” behind the EEE concepts and information to become excellent engineers and scientists.”